Astros’ 2016 Draft Bonus Pool is Less Than Alex Bregman’s Bonus

The Astros 2016 Draft Bonus Pool Breakdown

Welcome to Thursday, June 9th, 2016, which is MLB’s Amateur Draft day. On the first night, teams will draft the first two rounds including the competitive balance picks round A and B. Unlike 2015, the Houston Astros will only have two picks on Day One, instead of the four picks they had last year. Last year they drafted Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Daz Cameron, and Thomas Eshelman. Eshelman has since been traded to Philadelphia in the Ken Giles trade.

Last year the Astros had a larger player bonus pool because of those four players, so this year they will not be able to use the system to get a player like Cameron in the second round because they don’t have the same draft pool money they had last season. Last year, the Astros had a bonus pool of $17,289,200 with the extra two picks in the first round. This year, according to Brian McTaggart, the Astros will have a draft bonus pool of $5,928,300.

That’s three times lower than last year than last year’s total and less than the bonus that stud prospect Bregman got last season. The Astros and Bregman agreed to $6 million dollar bonus in 2016, which allowed him to start playing ball right away to be in the position he is in now where there is a chance he can make the team in 2016. Why be excited about this draft if the sum of all the bonuses in the first ten rounds of the 2016 MLB draft will be less than what you signed Bregman for in 2015? 

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Because the Astros have some holes to fill after the recent trades in 2015 and 2016, have taken away some of the top talents from the system. This draft will help you fill some of these gaps with the talent. Let’s take a look at the breakdown of the draft bonus pool.

1st Round: $2,504,200

2nd Round: $1,056,800

3rd Round: $614,000

4th Round: $459,700

5th Round: $344,300

6th Round: $257,900

7th Round: $193,300

8th Round: $176,600

9th Round: $164,900

10th Round: $156,600

This is all the Astros have to offer each draft pick in the first ten rounds plus any additional bonus money offered to any player drafted in rounds 11-40 that exceeds $100,000. If the Astros draft Eric Huysman in the 15th round, and I demand $125,000 or I’m going to honor my commitment to the University of Houston, that $25,000 will be taken away from the draft bonus pool money.

Look for the Astros to look for someone in the first two rounds who would be willing to sign for less than their slot value, so they can use that extra money to sign a 3rd to 10th round pick for above slot value. The Astros were able to do that last year by signing Bregman for less and signing Cameron for more.

We talked draft on Talking Stros

The Astros were picked by many as the team with the best draft in 2015, but it was because they had the Brady Aiken experience the year before. While the 2014 draft was an embarrassment to the organization, you can argue that it helped the Astros’ future by getting Bregman with the compensation pick and bonus money from not signing Aiken.

Next: Astros Are Reportedly Seeking A Pitcher in the First Round of Draft

What are the Astros needs, I would think a starting pitching prospect or a catcher would be a good pick in the first round. But be warned, money will be a factor in who the Astros will select. This could have been the reason the Astros went Bregman over Brendan Rodgers last year. However, the Astros need to draft the best player available.

***Draft bonus pool slot value comes from Baseball America***